Ezra sprague holmes



UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEETcE.

EZRA SPRAGUE HOLMES, OF WILSON, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO O. E. HOLMES AND WM.

PERRIGO, OF SAME PLACE.

.MACHINE FOR PRESSING FRUIT IN BARRELS, &c.

Specification of' Letters Patent No. 31,689, dated March 12, 1861.

To all whom t may concern.'

Beit known that I, EZRA SPRAGUE HOLMES, of IVilson, in the county of Niagara and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Machine for Packing Apples and other Fruit into Barrels, entitled E S. Holmess F ruit-Packer; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a partof this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective View of the inachine as applied to a barrel of fruit;` and Fig. 2 a longitudinal elevation of the same;

similar letters referring to the same parts in the different figures, which I will now more particularly describe.

A A, is the eccentric lever, which may be of any desired length or size, having its fulcruin or axis at the bolt 1.

C is the plunger, and D the shaft of the plunger.

E, E, is the bent link, attached to the top of the plunger shaft, and the center of the eccentric lever by the pins or bolt-s 2 and 3.

I is a slot in the lower end of the link.

F F F F, is the frame to which the other parts of the machine are attached.-

G, Gr, are the rods fastened to the frame by the screw-threads and nuts at 4, 4, the lower ends of which are armed with the hooks H, H.

Y is a barrel of fruit; and Z a barrel-head i being pressed down, so as to render the fruit compact and not liable to injury by shaking.

I make this machine entirely of iron; the frame F, the plunger C and D, and the lever A of cast iron; the bent link E, E, of wrought or cast iron as may be most convenient; and the rods G, G, and their hooks H, H, of wrought iron. The lever A should be made suiiiciently eccentric to move the plunger vertically three or four inches. I make the machine adjustable to the height of barrels by means of the screws at 4, 4; and to the diameter of the barrels by the elasticity of the rods. The link E, E, which consists of two similar pieces, one each side of the lever and plunger-shaft, secured to their' place by the pins or bolts 2 and 3, should be bent near its upper end, so as to allow the fastening, 3, to pass over beyond the axis, 1, when the lever is thrown back. A slot, I,

may be made in the lower part of the bent link, which will allow the lunger to be shoved up higher than the lin will draw it, when the lever is thrown back, and a similar slot in the upper end may be made, which will let the lever fall farther over back, if necessary. i

This machine is operated as follows. When a barrel is properly filled with fruit, tilt it a little and slip the hooks H, H, under the lower chime, directly opposite each other. Then adjust the barrel-head on the fruit, under the follower C, and turn the lever A over and down till the head is pressed to the desired place. Then drive on the hoops to hold the head in the crease or croze, turn the lever back-by which act the link will lift the follower up, out of the way-remove the machine and the operation is completed.

I do not claim the eccentric lever, or the i plunger, nor the hooked rods, separately, as they have been known and used before for various purposes; but

Vhat I claim as my invention, and vdesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- The link E E, or its equivalent, operating in combination with the lever A A, and the plunger C D, in the manner, and for the purpose substantially as described.

EZRA SPRAGUE HOLMES.

IVM. P. GROUT. 

